There is always a need for inexpensive, easily constructed and aesthetically appealing modular wall structures in the building industry. The prior art contains numerous examples of modular interlocking block units U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,100 to Healey and U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,987 to Calvin are two examples of prior art interlocking building blocks suitable for wall construction.
The construction block of the present invention is particularly suited for use in building semi-transparent partitions that are presently being constructed from glass blocks. Glass block walls have come into fashion as they provide an attractive and decorative interior or exterior wall partition that allows for passage of light into a room. Often these glass blocks have distorted surfaces in their hollow interior to prevent a person from looking through the partition.
The glass blocks presently in use have several disadvantages. The blocks are heavy and expensive and they are also fairly fragile and can shatter if dropped. Due to their heaviness, it is important when building a partition of glass blocks to start from a solid base. The blocks are separated by spacing and levelling pieces and mortar is inserted between the blocks to locate them in place. Finishing grout is then used to fill the spaces between the blocks to present an attractive finished appearance. Spacing and levelling is a very time consuming and labour intensive job requiring a skilled workman and only adds to the cost of a glass block partition wall.
Prior art has been developed specifically for use as substitutes for glass blocks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,861 to Weiss discloses an interlocking translucent plastic modular block suitable as a replacement for glass blocks. Weiss uses contoured blocks having tapered projections and cavities on their upper and lower surfaces for interlocking engagement to form stacked columns of blocks. The sides of a columns are held by a specially formed retaining strip, and a wall is formed from multiple columns of blocks positioned side by side. The retaining strip and the stacked column arrangement of Weiss does not produce a partition that has the desirable appearance of a conventional glass block wall.